In article ,
(Erik mann) wrote:
Or, maybe the design goal should be 40:1 performance at the lowest cost,
irrespective of span?

40:1 isn't actually what people want, otherwise the Phoebus would be a
lot more popular than it is.

What is the reason for more span? It decreases induced drag at high
angles of attack. So less span is worse because it means you won't be
able to thermal slowly and efficiently, right? Just like the PW-5.
Well, no, the PW5 thermals beautifully. The problem with it is that it
needs very thick wings to do that, and this actually penalises it at
*high* speed, not low speed. A glider similar to the PW-5 could easily
have thinner wings, a better best L/D and *much* better high speed
performance. It just wouldn't be able to fly as slowly for thermalling
and -- perhaps more importantly for low time pilots -- for landing.

--
Bruce | 41.1670S | \ spoken | -+-
Hoult | 174.8263E | /\ here. | ----------O----------